


Range of Emotion

by flipomatic



Category: RWBY
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/F, volume 8 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:54:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28398030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipomatic/pseuds/flipomatic
Summary: Penny never thought she could feel such a wide range of emotions, but that was before she met Ruby Rose.She didn't think she could feel them so strongly either. The way her body reacted, the way she acted irrationally, proved her wrong.
Relationships: Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose
Comments: 4
Kudos: 68





	1. Worry and Joy

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve wanted to write this ship for a long time, but never did. Penny is really hard to write.

As Penny rebooted, with her eyes still clasped shut, her first reaction was to panic. She had just been fighting with Pyrrha, with her metal wires being pushed back and around her. If she didn’t stop them, something terrible would happen.

Or, as she was starting to realize, had already happened. Penny couldn’t hear the roar of the crowd, and she was laying down in a completely different position. A quick diagnostic told her that her swords were safely stowed inside her back, though it showed other strange anomalies. Today’s date was no longer the same. The metal must’ve cut her clean in half, since she seemed to be completely rebuilt. Her limbs were longer, and her code had been updated. She was wired directly into the mainframe, which could only mean one thing.

Penny’s eyes popped open, taking in the room around her. It was a familiar place, her father’s workshop. He sat nearby, typing rapidly at a computer. He glanced her way, perking up with a smile when their eyes met.

“How do you feel?” Her father asked, leaving the computer to approach where she was lying. He was in his usual mechanical chair.

Penny referenced the diagnostic she had run to respond. “Bodily functions are all rebooted.” She said, sitting up and placing her feet on the ground. They clanged loudly against it; it was going to take a while to get used to having longer legs.

Her father nodded, still smiling “I’m glad to hear it.” That smile quickly faded to an expression Penny couldn’t parse. “What do you remember?” He asked in a much softer tone.

He must’ve been trying to be sensitive. “I was fighting Pyrrha, and then nothing.” Penny glanced around again, her processor whirring as it searched for other information. Her father looked sad now, like he could cry. “What happened?”

He sighed, a sound Penny knew was associated with disappointment. “Not long after you were defeated, Beacon was attacked by the Grimm.”

Penny’s eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. She felt like her chest, which normally functioned just fine, had seized up. “Are my friends injured?” She used the word friends, but there was only one name flashing loud and clear through her mind. Ruby, what had happened to Ruby? It wasn’t that she didn’t care about the others, because she did, but Ruby was a true friend.

Her palms felt strangely warm.

Her father shook his head with a frown. “A few of them are.” The feeling in Penny’s chest tightened. “Ms. Nikos, didn’t make it.” Oh no, an image of Pyrrha right before the fight flashed across Penny’s eyes. She’d been so strong, Penny couldn’t imagine someone defeating her. “Ms. Xiao Long was seriously hurt. Other than that, I’m not sure. I haven’t heard much from Beacon since the attack. I was only able to recover your core because it was on Amity Arena.”

“I.. I see.” Penny muttered, directing her eyes down towards the floor. It was awful to hear about Pyrrha, but somehow felt worse to have no news about Ruby.

“General Ironwood should know more, you can ask him when you see him.” Her father offered, which loosened that awful tight feeling.

“I certainly will.” Penny looked back up, offering her father a half smile. Her new face felt more flexible than the old one had, moving easily to the expression.

Her father backed up a little, giving her room to stand. “You might notice some changes with the new body.” He changed the subject with a wink.

“It is taller than I’m used to.” Penny admitted, taking the chance to stand up. She was able to balance on her feet, though her center of gravity felt higher than it had been before. She started calculating the best way to walk in this new form, how to best angle her steps.

“It’s not just the height.” Her father replied, pulling up a diagram of her body on the computer and turning the screen so she could see it. “It’s connected better with your emotions now, with stronger physiological responses. Have you noticed?”

Oh, so that feeling, that pain in her chest, that was from an emotion? She hadn’t thought emotions could hurt like that; they never had before. “I think so.” She took a calculated step forward, to look more closely at the diagram.

“We’ll run more tests to make sure it’s working properly.” Her father zoomed in on one of the hands, looking closely at the image.

They talked a bit longer about the upgrades to the body, with Penny looking at her new form in the mirror, before she went to rest in her room. Though she’d been gone for a while, everything was the same as she had left it.

She wasn’t the same though. Going to Beacon, making friends, being destroyed and rebuilt, had all changed her.

Penny sat down on her bed, the emotion from earlier coming back in full force now that she was alone. She hoped nothing bad had happened to Ruby. Ruby was a strong girl, Penny thought, reviewing a memory of Ruby spinning her scythe, she had to be fine.

Even that thought wasn’t of comfort though. Penny realized that this was worry, this nagging tension that she couldn’t shake. Was this how people felt all the time?

She wished it would stop. She wished to know that Ruby was safe.

Later, she would find out from the General that Ruby had been unharmed in the attack. That helped, but she wasn’t able to completely shake the feeling.

* * *

As the protector of Mantle, Penny had grown accustomed to flying out, fighting the Grimm, and then returning back to base to report. Most of the time she worked alone, since she could move faster that way. If she got there quickly, less people would be hurt by the Grimm. She didn’t mind working by herself.

That’s why it was unusual to see other huntsmen fighting the Grimm. Penny had been deployed as usual, to fight Grimm close to where her father’s workshop was. When she had almost reached her destination, she saw a large number of huntsmen already fighting them. Her father was there with them, she could detect his electronic chair. The group had some familiar color schemes, but she would wait to process them until after the threat was defeated.

Penny aimed her laser beams carefully to take out the last few Grimm, stopping them from reaching the huntsmen. A moment later she had flown over the group, and carefully landed in the middle of the road.

When her father said to say hello to her friends, Penny finally looked their way. The instant she did, she wished she’d identified them from the sky.

Penny’s eyes went wide and she couldn’t help but grin. Her cheeks almost hurt from the expression, which they shouldn’t have been able to do, but she couldn’t stop it. Her whole body felt light, like she could fly without her thrusters.

Right in the center, standing in the middle of the road, was Ruby. Her red cloak was tattered, and she was wearing a different outfit, but Penny would recognize her no matter what she wore.

Ruby, her best friend Ruby, who she hadn’t seen since before the fall of Beacon, who was looking back at her with a slowly growing smile. There were others there too, acquaintances from Beacon, but Penny couldn’t even see them.

Penny felt like she could explode, like her whole body could just combust right then and there. Even if she did, it wouldn’t matter. Ruby was there, in one piece, with her glimmering silver eyes. In Penny’s chest, where her heart would’ve been if she’d had one, where tight worry had haunted her, now there was only smooth warmth.

Just walking over to Ruby, which was the normal accepted way to approach someone, wouldn’t be enough. No, Penny couldn’t stand being this far away for even another second. She was bursting with energy; there was only one way to do this.

She knelt down in order to get a running start, and then took off dashing towards Ruby. Once she had enough momentum, she kicked her rocket boosters into effect to go even faster. Penny rushed past the others with her arms outstretched, with only one target in her sights.

Ruby looked slightly panicked about Penny’s method of approach, but she still outstretched her arms to receive her.

As Penny crashed into her, she still had no doubt that this was the best method to reconnect. Knocking Ruby to the ground, briefly having her arms around her, was a bonus.

They quickly got to their feet. Penny smiled as she added words to her greeting and as her father reintroduced her, before chatting about her upgrades and new job. It was hard to believe that Ruby was actually here, after all this time.

They had so much to catch up about, Penny wanted to start immediately. She stepped closer to Ruby, leaning forward to grab her arms and tell her. She had so many questions, so many things she wanted to know. Even when the alarm blared in the city, calling Penny to another district, that didn’t dampen her mood.

Penny kept talking as she took off, flying towards the sound of the alarm.

Even having to wait to catch up couldn’t stifle the joy she felt at seeing her friend once again.

Later, after the whole group talked with General Ironwood, Penny would lead them to their dorms.

Team RWBY had quickly claimed bunks, each member relieved to rest. Ruby had settled up on the top bunk, leaving her scythe against the wall with the other weapons. Penny stood below, looking up at her. The room was silent, with Yang already asleep in the bunk below.

Ruby was looking down at her, a look in her eyes that Penny couldn’t read. For a minute, Penny just returned that gaze. She wondered if Ruby would invite her up to talk.

Then she realized, oh, maybe she was intruding.

Penny glanced between the bunks, reprocessing what was happening. She had been excited about catching up with Ruby, but the whole team seemed to be tired. She could wait again.

This time, her warmth was diminished by the delay. Penny ducked her head slightly as she turned away from the bunks, taking a step towards the door.

“Penny.” Ruby’s voice, quiet and uncertain, stopped her.

Penny looked back over her shoulder, at Ruby’s half outstretched hand. “Yes?”

Ruby pulled her hand back, sliding off the side of her bunk with her feet barely making a sound as they hit the floor. She stepped towards Penny. “Let’s catch up.” They left the room together.

Penny didn’t have a heart, but if she did it would be soaring.


	2. Fear and Surprise

Once team RWBY became full huntresses, Penny no longer went on all of her missions alone. Sometimes she still went by herself to fight Grimm in Mantle, but just as often she was sent out with one or more of the new huntsmen and huntresses. She did supply runs with Ruby, Qrow, and Clover. She fought Grimm with Ruby and Weiss. She even went once with Blake and Yang to check on an outpost.

Fighting alongside others was a new and welcome experience. Penny had practiced some with her teammates for the Vytal Festival, but she was limited in what abilities she could show them and hadn’t been close with them. They also hadn’t gone on missions together.

So now, as she went to fight Grimm alongside her friends, Penny was having a great time. Especially when she was assigned with Ruby.

Today was one such day. Penny had been sent out with Ruby and Weiss to check an abandoned factory just outside of Mantle for Grimm. They took an airship, which Penny was qualified to pilot. Ruby and Weiss had sat in the back, discussing plans they had for the evening.

Penny would be working still later, patrolling Mantle as usual, or she would’ve asked if she could join them. She didn’t have much time to spend with her friends, which was part of why she enjoyed going on missions with them. It was nice to spend time together, even if that time was used fighting Grimm.

She landed the ship in front of the factory, running an external scan on it during the approach. The outside of the building was intact, with a few small cracks near the foundation. At the surface level, it did not appear to have been breached.

Penny informed them of this fact as Ruby led the way out of the ship. She nodded at Penny in affirmation.

Once outside, Ruby and Weiss looked around carefully as they neared the factory entrance. Behind them, Penny was scanning for sounds. This turned up a different result than her earlier report. A large number of sound waves were coming from the factory, which was unusual since it was supposed to be abandoned.

“I can hear something moving inside.” Penny said just as Ruby reached the door.

“Thanks Penny.” Ruby took her scythe off her belt, opening it with a flourish. Weiss followed suit and drew her sword. They then moved through the door, slowly as to not potentially alert whatever was in there to their presence.

Penny had her hands up as she followed them inside, ready to fight if needed.

The first part of the factory was clear, with only old machinery and enough non-elemental dust to make Ruby sneeze. The noise echoed loudly through the factory, bouncing off the walls. Ruby covered her nose quickly with her cape, to avoid making any additional noise. Penny scanned for sound vibrations again, but didn’t detect any changes.

Ruby raised one hand to the back of her head. “Sorry.” She squeaked quietly.

“Be more careful.” Weiss replied with a roll of her eyes.

The three continued deeper into the factory, combing each room. They didn’t find anything on the ground floor, but there was a large set of stairs in the center that lead down into the ground. The soundwaves were coming primarily from that direction.

At the bottom of the stairs, they found the Grimm they’d been searching for. It was a pack of Grimm, beowolves, that seemed to have built a nest and settled in there. They must’ve been entering from underground, staying below to avoid detection.

Penny didn’t have a chance to scan them before one noticed the approaching huntresses, and howled a warning to the rest of the pack. Ruby leapt forward with a spin to attack it, taking it out with one clean slice.

With that, the battle had begun. Ruby and Weiss went right, taking on the beowolves on that side. Penny went left, drawing her swords in a ring behind her. She couldn’t use her booster boots in here, the ceiling was too low, so she had to stay on the ground.

Penny attacked the beowolves one by one, blocking with her swords when they tried to slash at her. There were more than ten down there, which was more than they’d been expecting to find.

The fight was going well, with Penny having defeated four of the beowolves attacking her. There were still two left when she heard a sound that sent a chill through her circuits.

The sound of a body being thrown against a wall, and of Ruby gasping as if she’d been struck. Penny’s eyes widened, freezing in place even though that was the last thing she wanted to do. It was as if ice and fire had been dumped down her back, though she wouldn’t have been able to feel it even if they were.

She spun around, faster than she normally would, to check on her teammates. Weiss was still fighting the beowolves; she was frowning, but appeared unharmed. There was only one Grimm in her way.

Ruby though, Penny didn’t see her at first. Her eyes darted frantically, whole body tense, searching for the familiar red hood. In her peripheral vision, one of the last two beowolves on her side ran at her. Penny swung her swords to stab it without looking back.

Her eyes finally landed on Ruby’s form, after what seemed like minutes but had only been seconds, crouching near the back wall. There was a Grimm looming over her, the largest beowolf in the pack. Her weapon was on the ground in front of her, still in scythe form and just out of reach.

Before even taking time to process, Penny acted.

There was no time for calculations, or to even think about what she should do.

She flung her blades in that direction, bring them up and then straight down on the Grimm. It turned towards her with a roar, charging in Penny’s direction. That was fine, as long as it wasn’t going to hurt Ruby.

Penny swung at it again, then dodged to the side when it swiped at her. She thought about firing her laser at it, but it was too risky underground. She dodged it again, swinging her swords back to get the last beowolf she’d been fighting before.

The large one came in again, faster this time, with one claw raised. It didn’t get to finish the swing.

A loud gunshot, one Penny was quite familiar with, rang out in the room. A bullet shot right through the beowolf’s head, causing it to start disintegrating with an undignified whimper. Once it was gone and out of her line of sight, Penny could see that Ruby had her gun aimed directly at it.

To the side, Weiss had killed the last of the other beowolves a moment before. She was walking towards Ruby to regroup.

Penny jogged over to Ruby to do the same. A quick scan showed that she still had 75% of her aura, which meant she hadn’t been in immediate harm. Penny’s fear, her quick action, had been irrational.

“Are you injured?” Penny still asked, just to make sure. She still felt jittery, with extra electricity pumping to her limbs like she could jump out of her skin.

“I’m fine, thanks for the assist!” Ruby said, flashing a thumbs up.

Weiss looked between the two of them, with a raised eyebrow and an expression Penny wasn’t familiar with. “Let’s keep moving.” She said, turning to go deeper into the factory.

The trio kept searching the lower level, but they didn’t find any more Grimm. They did find the hole in the ground that Grimm were entering through, and Penny marked it to be filled in by a later expedition.

As they headed back up towards the exit, Penny couldn’t stop thinking about that moment during the fight. The way she had moved without thinking, she never did that.

It was outside of her programming; she’d ask her father to take a look at it later.

When she asked him though, he said it was a normal function. Everything was working as intended.

It didn’t feel normal.

* * *

Even though she wasn’t born like a regular person, Penny’s father still insisted that she had a birthday.

Every year they would celebrate, just the two of them. Even when she was at Beacon, they had a video call to commemorate the day.

Penny didn’t tell anyone about the date. Not her Vytal Festival teammates, not General Ironwood, and not any of her friends. It was just the day she was first booted, which wasn’t something they needed to know about.

This year, on the morning of her birthday, Penny arose at the same time as usual. She was scheduled for training in the morning, and then a mission patrolling Mantle in the afternoon.

Usually, the halls were empty when she emerged from her room. The Atlas hunters and huntresses didn’t tend to hang around in the morning, since they always had somewhere they needed to be.

This morning though, a familiar figure was waiting outside of her door.

To the right of the door, within a few feet, was Ruby. She was already dressed for the day, and was half leaning against the hallway wall. Both of her hands were behind her back, seeming to be held together. She stood up straight when she noticed Penny, a smile appearing on her face.

“Good morning!” Ruby said enthusiastically.

Penny was a bit confused as to why Ruby was here so early. “Good morning.” She replied simply, confident that Ruby would explain herself. She always did.

Ruby’s eyes, which often showed Penny how she felt, flicked to the floor. “I’m glad I caught you.” She said, scuffing the toes of her right foot against the ground. She seemed strangely uncertain, nervous. “Since I know you’ll be busy today…” Ruby’s words trailed off, her cheeks gaining a slight pink tint.

Penny prompted her to continue. “Indeed you have.” Penny wasn’t sure what to make of her being here, or of her acting this way. This pattern of behavior didn’t align with any of the records she had kept on Ruby.

Ruby’s eyes came up, just for a moment, before dropping back down somewhere around Penny’s ankles. “Right, I did.” She chuckled, a motion that rippled through her shoulders. “I, um, I heard it was your birthday today.”

“Oh.” Penny could only say that one word in response. Her chest felt strange, like something inside had paused midway. She hadn’t told Ruby about her birthday.

“And I wanted to give you something!” Ruby whipped her hands in front of her body, flourishing a small box. It was wrapped with green striped paper, with a small bow tied around it. Ruby’s eyes came up, to look directly into Penny’s, a smile having returned to her face. “Happy birthday.”

Penny could hardly breathe. That pause from before had become a full on stop, a full shock to her system. “Oh, wow.” This time Penny managed two words. She blinked a couple times, mind whirring to try and get her body to react better.

Ruby was undeterred. She stepped closer, keeping the present raised. “Go ahead and open it!”

Penny reached forward to accept it; the box was small enough to fit in one hand. “Thank you.” She said as she turned the box over in her hand. On closer inspection, it was very neatly wrapped.

She carefully untied the bow, and then lifted the few pieces of tape without damaging the paper. This allowed her to remove it without tearing the wrapping. She folded it up for safe keeping. Inside was a small cardboard box, which Penny opened slowly.

A small object sat inside, a clip that was a couple inches long with a small ceramic red flower on the end. Penny took it out of the box, examining it closely. It looked to be a hair clip, though there was some kind of contraption added onto the clip.

“It’s for your bangs, to keep them out of your face.” Ruby explained, miming pushing bangs off her own forehead.

Penny snapped the hair clip open, seeing how it could be used in that way. “I see.” She said, pulling her eyes away from the vibrant red of the flower.

“It’s also a knife.” Ruby had a gleam in her eyes as she added that, stepping even closer with an outstretched hand. Penny handed the hair clip to her, curious to see how it worked. Ruby showed her on the inside of the clasp, where there was a small button. On pressing it, the flower spun and released a small blade. “Modified it myself.” Ruby pointed a thumb at herself with a grin.

“I love it.” Penny felt incredibly warm as she accepted the hairpin back from Ruby. The knife was still out, but she was able to easily push it back inside the clip. It was only sharp on the inside edge, so that lowered the risk of accidental injury.

She clipped it onto her bangs, carefully capturing the bangs on the side of her face. Once it was on, she snapped it shut. It stayed in place well, and wasn’t too heavy considering it also contained a blade.

Ruby’s face was turning red again, but she still had a small smile on her face. “It looks good on you.”

Penny knew she couldn’t blush, but she felt like she might’ve been. “Thank you.” She broke eye contact, her stomach flipping oddly. “What kind of flower is it?” She felt the need to change the focus of the topic.

“A carnation.”

“Hmm, I don’t think I’ve ever seen those.” Penny tried to pull them up in her memory, but couldn’t find any images that matched.

“My dad used to grow white ones.” Ruby responded, glancing up as if trying to recall something. “He never let Yang and I play near them.” She chuckled, a sound so infectious Penny couldn’t help but laugh too.

They talked for a few more minutes about the flowers, but soon had to part. Both had duties for the day, places they had to go.

During training, Penny was forced to take off the hair clip. As she flew through the air, boot boosters at full blast and the wind blowing against her face, it felt like the clip could go flying at any moment. She would’ve hated for it to become damaged or lost, so she took it off.

Instead, Penny slipped it into one of her pockets. She clipped it to the fabric, so it wouldn’t fall out.

It would be safer there.

* * *

Omake:

How Ruby got the idea for the hair clip.

Ruby: Hey, what kind of gift should I give Penny?

Yang: A weapon.

Blake: Some flowers.

Weiss: A hair clip.

Ruby: How about all three?


	3. Anger and Longing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for volume 8 from this point on. Volume 8 Penny is very complicated. I’m sorry this chapter took a while; I spent the last week tiering d4dj 5+ hours a day.

On the day that Penny became the winter maiden, the day her whole life came crashing down around her, she followed Ruby. She made a choice to do what was right, to not abandon Mantle to Salem. That was the only decision she made that day that she was certain about.

Everything else, well, it all lived in her memory bank. Images of the previous winter maiden, of Winter, and of Cinder haunted her thoughts. No matter what she did, she couldn’t shake them.

She regretted leaving Winter behind, as injured as she was, but she didn’t leave them any options. Penny hoped that she would recover, and that she would be able to work through the waves of conflict that raged inside her.

Was taking the maiden’s power the right thing to do though? Penny asked herself that question, unable to calculate an answer. Perhaps she could’ve prevented it, if she’d done something differently. At the time there hadn’t seemed to be other options, but if she’d only tried harder, maybe she could’ve found one. From the minute she acquired the power on, the question echoed through her mind.

This conflict, the dwelling on what could’ve been and calculating different paths, was strange for Penny. She could process thousands of pieces of information, categorize them, and then analyze the results in less than a minute. This question though, she was stuck on it. She kept turning it over and over again in her mind, unable to come to a conclusion.

Even on the ship as they left, Penny looked down at her hands and wondered. Ruby noticed and leaned against her, with Weiss holding her arm on the other side. Their touch, a fairly new phenomena to Penny, provided warmth and comfort. It was a welcome distraction.

When the group later divided into two, with Yang and Ruby arguing about what to do next, Penny again went with Ruby. They needed to stick together; she would help and protect her friend.

Ironwood’s call brought her doubts back to the front of her mind, about being the winter maiden. They had never fully left, but again she couldn’t stop thinking about them.

Ruby, who always seemed to know what Penny needed, noticed. She helped calm Penny’s mind, and told her she was still protecting Mantle.

It helped. Words could only do so much, but Ruby knew all of the right ones. The hug that followed amplified that effect.

Penny tried to set her conflicted emotions aside as Weiss found the way up to Atlas. They had a job to do, and she played an important role. She needed to focus.

She managed to do that, staying in control of her thoughts as they navigated the base, until her father said she should come to Amity Tower to launch with it. Even Ruby said it might be for the best. Penny didn’t want that; she wanted to stay, to fight alongside her friends.

When the Ace-Ops showed up in the hallway, lobbying questions at Penny, those thoughts were pushed aside.

She could only argue back against them to defend her position, to defend her choice. They continued to bombard her with accusations, not listening to her explanations. She didn’t want to fight them, only wanted them to understand why she made the choice that she did.

That was, until, Harriet threatened Ruby.

“One more word, and I’m throwing you in jail next to your uncle, runt.”

Penny’s mind, which had been clouded and conflicted all day, was suddenly clear. In this moment, she knew what to do.

Penny thrust one arm in front of Ruby, who had started to step forward. “Leave her alone.” She said, the words coming out low and firm.

‘And what are you going to do about it tin can?” Those words were a challenge, one Penny was prepared to meet.

She stepped out into the hall with narrowed eyes, which widened as the door behind her began to shut. Penny spun back as Ruby called out for her, but was too late to stop the door from completely closing.

Perhaps it was better this way.

Penny would protect her friends, she would fight for them, for Ruby.

She turned back towards the Ace-Ops, slowly, green appearing around her eyes. Her anger towards them, a heat that pulsed through her circuits, was pointed like a knife. From it came strength and focus.

How dare they attack her friends. How dare they threaten Ruby.

Penny hadn’t had much practice with her maiden powers yet, but they came easily now. The wind whipped past her, pushing against the Ace-Ops.

She gathered the wind with her hands and used it to push the four of them back, beginning the fight.

As Penny fought, one versus four, she struggled to manage her opponents. They weren’t called the Ace-Ops for nothing, but she refused to allow them to harm her friends.

If not for Marrow and his semblance, she might’ve been able to win. When she calculated the odds at the start, they were still quite low, but there was a chance. Being able to fly gave her an edge on the bridge, and as the battle went on she was utilizing her maiden powers better and better.

Unfortunately, he did have his semblance. He used it to freeze her in place, and then to hold her as Elm approached with handcuffs.

That would’ve been the end, if not for Nora breaking down the barrier.

After the explosion that echoed out from the door, after Nora collapsed to the ground, Penny ran to her side. She had a strange pattern etched into her skin, like lightning had surged through her. Her aura was completely depleted, leaving her defenseless. Penny scanned quickly, relieved to see that her heart was still beating.

Nora must’ve channeled electricity through her weapon, though her body, in order to get the door open. She did this to come save Penny, who was supposed to be protecting her friends.

If Penny hadn’t stepped forward to fight, to go alone, this wouldn’t have happened. Nora wouldn’t have had to bust the door down, wouldn’t have been hurt like this.

Why had Penny done that, going out by herself? If her friends had been by her side, if she’d stayed with them, the odds were much higher of the battle going in her favor. She would’ve been fighting alongside her friends, but not protecting them.

It was irrational, to separate herself from them, to fight alone. It went against her programming, which guided her towards the best odds.

Regardless, guided by anger, she had done it.

Now Nora was hurt.

Again Penny fought, now alongside Ruby, Weiss, and Blake, against the Ace-Ops. She was still angry, but not just at them,

No, she was also angry with herself.

* * *

As Penny flew away from the ship, already having charted the route to Amity Tower, she once again pondered the decision she was making. It hung over her, threatening to pull her down even as her rocket boots pushed her higher into the air. Leaving the ship had been incredibly difficult, even after Ruby promised to see her again soon. If anything, that promise made it harder.

Every moment Penny spent flying away from the ship, she longed to turn around and go back. She wanted to keep fighting with her friends, to be on the front lines of the battlefield. She wanted to do her duty as the Protector of Mantle, to protect the citizens from Salem.

How could Penny do that from thousands of feet above the ground, stranded on Amity Tower?

She couldn’t, and she knew it.

Her father had given her this instruction, to come meet him at the tower. Penny had to do it; she wouldn’t disobey him.

He had thought this through, and it was the best course of action, the best way to keep the winter maiden’s power out of Salem’s hands. She wouldn’t be able to get to Penny if she were far away.

That didn’t make Penny dislike the decision any less.

It wasn’t just that, she also wanted to stay with Ruby. The thought of leaving her on her own, where Penny couldn’t protect her, couldn’t be by her side, wouldn’t leave Penny’s mind. The worry that she’d felt before Ruby came back into her life, which reared whenever her friend went on missions without her, swung back in full force.

When Penny had wrapped her arms around Ruby, right before leaving, she yearned to stay like that. To keep her safe and close in her embrace. Penny had tightened the hug before letting go, to extend it. Even as she flew, she could remember the sensation.

Penny had to resist the urge to turn right around and fly back, to say “I’ll stay with you” to the red hooded girl.

She longed to go back, but she couldn’t. This feeling, this yearning, was irrational. Her calculations agreed with her father that Amity Tower was the best place for her. Her calculation showed that Ruby was a highly competent huntress and would be able to protect herself. She was even with two of her teammates, who were quite strong.

Penny, in what was certainly a malfunction of her personality, disagreed with those calculations. Like earlier, when she had moved out of anger, she again desired to act against the best course of action.

Her code, which helped her make decisions, knew not to. But that didn’t diminish how she felt.

What did stop her was the effect of her earlier decision. Because Penny had acted rashly, Nora had been injured. The group was taking her somewhere to rest, but she had barely stirred since collapsing. Penny hoped she would recover.

Ruby’s face flashed through Penny’s mind again, the last glimpse of her Penny had before turning away from the ship.

Penny put a hand in her pocket to touch the hair clip Ruby had given her. She carried it with her ever since, clipped securely to the inside of the pocket. Touching it calmed her, centered her thoughts.

Penny had to focus on what was most important. Stopping Salem from getting the Relic was more important than her feelings.

This irrational behavior, these stirs of emotion, Penny had to stop them. She couldn’t let herself keep acting on them, to keep following the suboptimal path.

Protecting the relic was what mattered the most. Following the path with the best chance of success, no matter what she longed to do, was the only way forward.

And so she flew, steadily through the air, to where Amity Tower hovered over the mines. She again asked her father if she could stay, and he again said no.

He couldn’t stop her from going to fight Cinder when she broke into the tower.


	4. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Volume 8 spoilers continue. This is non canon.

A green fluid was dripping slowly from Penny’s chest, leaving bright splatters of neon along the ground. Ruby’s clothes were covered in it, making her even easier to track for the virus that had taken control.

They were outside, near the crater where Penny had crash landed before. Ruby stood more than ten feet away from Penny, with Crescent Rose drawn. She held it in a defensive stance, eyes wide with concern.

Weiss and Blake were nearby, with their weapons drawn as well. Ruby signaled for them to stay back, so they watched and waited.

The virus that had occupied Penny’s body wasn’t concerned with the other two. It only had attention for two things: the relic and Ruby. It had first just tried to leave the building to go to the relic, kicking its rocket boots into gear to fly through, until it spotted Ruby.

A new directive flashed; to kill the girl in the red hood. Cinder would hate it if someone else did the job before she could. Penny wasn’t sure why she had that thought, but she opposed it on every level.

Then the virus, controlling Penny’s body, attacked.

Now, as Penny wrestled to try and take back control, it whipped her blades towards Ruby. The teen dodged, using her weapon to deflect the attack. She had already taken a few hits, but still had plenty of aura remaining. At least, Penny hoped she did. She couldn’t run the scan to check, no matter how desperately she wanted too.

Even though Penny couldn’t feel her body, couldn’t feel the tightening in her chest that came with the emotion, she was afraid.

“Snap out of it Penny!” Ruby called out to her, her voice rough with emotion. “I know you’re in there!” She ducked under another attack, barely avoiding being hit.

The virus that controlled Penny didn’t respond to her. It seemed to lack the desire or even the consciousness to communicate. Instead, it brought the swords back to charge up a laser blast, aimed directly at Ruby.

Again Ruby dodged, maintaining her defensive stance.

“I won’t fight you.” The frown on Ruby’s face was more pronounced than Penny had seen before. A hint of tears glimmered in the corners of her eyes.

The virus fired the laser again, this time without having to charge it first. It struck Ruby in the chest, sending her stumbling back towards the crater.

No, this couldn’t be happening. Penny searched the virus again to look for a weakness, to try to find a way to stop it.

Penny wanted to tell Ruby to fight back, that it would be fine and she could be repaired. She was already losing the fluids that flowed through her veins, a little more damage would be fine. Especially if it kept Ruby safe.

Unfortunately, she still couldn’t find a way to take control. The virus had hijacked everything with these new instructions, keeping her locked onto those paths. Penny tried to run a code that would bring just one of her arms back, but it was rebuffed instantly.

She had no idea where this virus came from or how it had even gotten into her system. Perhaps when she jacked into the Atlas base? If so, it had taken a while to activate.

Penny could only watch as her body fired again, blasting Crescent Rose from Ruby’s hands and sending her tumbling down into the crater. As she fell, her aura flickered out. No, no no, this couldn’t be happening.

Penny’s body stepped forward to follow, but had to reconsider when it detected motion behind her.

Weiss, Penny always knew Weiss was her second favorite friend, no longer seemed content with watching her leader be attacked. She lunged towards Penny at high speed, a glyph in the air behind her. The virus, being cued by Penny’s motion sensors, dodged easily before bringing the bringing the blades around to push Weiss through.

Weiss regained her footing quickly, spinning to again face her opponent. She had her sword pointed towards Penny, but her eyes, directed at the crater and her fallen leader, showed where her attention really was. Blake had run over to the crater while Weiss lunged in, keeping a wide distance between herself and Penny.

The virus calculated the next angle of attack, not concerned about fighting both of them if it meant having an easier time achieving its other goals. The bleeding was a problem, but the program said Penny’s body could take them. That was the last thing Penny wanted.

After another moment, barely a second, Weiss leapt back into action. She lunged forward with an attack from below, which was easily deflected. The attack was weaker than usual, weaker than when Penny had trained with the team.

At the crater, Blake was leaning in to help pull Ruby up. The red hooded girl emerged slowly, but once she reached level ground she seemed able to stand on her own.

“Don’t hurt her.” Ruby said quietly, looking down at one closed fist. She left Crescent Rose on the ground.

Weiss sighed, but otherwise didn’t move. “Then what do you suggest?” While they talked, Penny tried another attack on the virus. She had to figure out how it got in, so that she could stop it. She ran a code to try and find the source, to see where it was coming from.

“I can reach her.” Ruby’s voice was stronger now, as her eyes came up to meet Penny’s. “I know it.”

Now Weiss took a step back, sword still raised. “One more chance.” She emphasized the first word.

Blake took up a spot on the opposite side of Penny, likely prepared to attack from multiple angles if needed.

The virus wasn’t worried about this. Penny didn’t think it was even capable of that kind of emotion. It just recalculated, and then raised its ring of swords once again.

Ruby didn’t move, didn’t pick up her weapon. She raised her right hand, the one that was closed, and slowly opened in it.

In her palm was a familiar object, one Penny always kept on her. It was the hair clip, which had been attached to her pocket. Ruby must’ve found it in the crater, where it fell out of Penny’s pocket as she crashed into the ground.

It still looked to be intact, which was the one and only positive for the day.

“You had this.” Ruby held up the hair clip to scrutinize it. “Since you stopped wearing it, I thought you didn’t like it.” She mused, closing her hand again around the clip. Penny wanted to say that the opposite was true, that she didn’t want it to get damaged.

The virus, not one for conversation, moved abruptly to strike. It swung the blades forward, in a spinning motion. Ruby tried to duck the blow, but it had figured out how she moved. It adjusted the trajectory to hit her in the side, again knocking her to the ground.

Penny’s body then stepped closer, grasping one of its swords to perhaps strike a final blow.

On the inside, Penny was frantically searching for a way to stop it. She was getting closer; she could feel it. She hoped Ruby would defend herself with the clip, that she would use it as a knife. It was her last line of defense.

Ruby sat up and coughed once; she still had the clip grasped tight in her hand. “I never told you what the flower means.” Her voice had weakened, but still carried her innate strength. She looked up at Penny’s body, now standing over her. “Red carnations represent affection.” Ruby’s lip raised in a small smile, as if everything was not going wrong. “And love.”

Affection and love? Penny wasn’t fully in control of her ears so she wasn’t sure if she heard that right. Ruby loved her? Penny was familiar with the concept of love, she loved her father, but she hadn’t checked it against anyone else.

What did it feel like, to be in love? Penny didn’t know that either, and she didn’t think this was the right moment to contemplate it.

In fact, she was quite short on time. The virus was raising its arm to prepare another blow, and off to the side Weiss was charging up a summon.

Luckily, due to her persistent searching, Penny finally found what she was looking for. One of her blades, the one she had lost at the Atlas base to the Ace-Ops, was emitting the virus.

The quickest way to disable it would be to disconnect from all of her blades. While booted, she could do this temporarily by resetting their program, but it would only last a minute. It would have to do for now, until she could think of a longer term solution.

Penny entered the code to reset them immediately, hoping with every wire in her body that she wasn’t too late.

As the swords reset, the ones hovering behind her dropped to the ground. As they did, Penny was finally able to move again. She opened her hand and let the last sword fall.

“Penny?” Ruby leapt onto her feet, silver eyes gleaming. “Is it really you?” Her voice broke mid question.

“I only have a minute.” Penny jumped right to what needed to be done. “It’s controlling me through the swords, we have to disable them permanently.” Think, think, how could that be done? Wait, the detach switch, that was it. “There’s a button under my bow, on the control panel. If you press it the blades will deactivate until I reattach them.” This was a safety measure after what happened with Pyrrha, though it wasn’t actually that practical. Ruby would need a long thin object to be able to activate it.

“How do I do that?” Ruby leaned forward to look on the back of Penny’s neck, squinting.

“Use the…” Penny’s voice stopped mid-sentence, as the virus started to come back and retake control. Her blades once again rose from the ground. “I…” She fought it, but again it was no use. It quickly lunged forward to try and punch Ruby, who skittered away with a shriek of surprise.

Immediately, a summoned soldier was upon her. It swung at Penny’s body to push it back, to make some distance between it and Ruby.

Blake came next, swinging around to draw the attention of the virus.

Even though the virus thought it could beat them, as Penny knew her friends were way stronger than any calculation could give them credit for.

Between the two of them, as Ruby retrieved her weapon and called for them to not hurt Penny, they were able to freeze her blades and contain her. The virus still lacked emotion, as it strived to get free to continue its goals.

Ruby approached, with the hair clip in hand. She had flipped it open to a knife, and she stood behind Penny to try and find the button she mentioned.

“This looks complicated.” Blake commented as Ruby opened the panel on Penny’s bow.

“I got it.” Ruby sounded confident, and Penny was rooting for her. She hummed quietly as she examined the interface, finally spotting the gap that contained the button. It was kept inside of a crevice, so it couldn’t be pressed by accident. “Found it.”

Though Penny couldn’t see what Ruby was doing, there was only one tool she could be using to do it. The hair clip that was also a knife was the only thing on hand that would fit.

A moment later, and it seemed like they had been successful. The blades stopped struggling to leave the ice, and Penny was able once again to feel her own limbs. The strings connecting her body to the blades disconnected, coiling into the weapons. She turned her head to look around, taking in the mess in the courtyard.

The rope from Blake’s weapon, which had been wrapped around her, loosened. Once her hands were free, Penny lifted them to look at them. They were stained green with her own blood.

Ruby stepped around her, grasping Penny’s hands with her free one. “Are you… you?” She asked, glimmering silver eyes locked on Penny’s.

“I think so.” Penny ran a system diagnostic, which made note of the steady loss of blood and inability to connect to her blades. It asked if she wanted to re-establish the connection, which Penny promptly denied.

In front of her, Ruby folded the knife back into a hair clip. She reached forward, placing it in Penny’s hands. “There, back where it belongs.”

Penny carefully clipped it back into her pocket where it would be safe, remembering what Ruby had said about it before. Love, such a foreign emotion.

Now, as Ruby collapsed to her knees and Penny wrapped her arms around her to ease her fall, perhaps she had time to consider it.

All of this time, all of these weeks, she had been fighting and struggling with her emotions. She’d felt so many different things, so much stronger than she ever had before. She’d wrestled with her decisions, with following her desires down the suboptimal path.

The relief she felt now, as Ruby was in her arms and unharmed, was also familiar.

Was love the word she was looking for all along?

Penny thought it might’ve been.

Ruby lifted her arms around Penny, holding her tightly. Penny brought one hand up to brush Ruby’s bangs, which had fallen into her face in the conflict, to the side.

“Don’t leave me again.” Ruby muttered, her cheeks tinging pink. She lifted one hand to place gently against Penny’s.

Penny didn’t have a heart, but if she did she was sure it would be racing.

“I won’t.”


End file.
